Board-stripping tools

ABSTRACT

A straight tubular handle one extremity of which is arcuately bent back to form a hook-shaped, semi-circular, prying portion therebeing support-contacting fulcrum elements projecting oppositely outward from the handle adjacent the prying portion and an elongated, board-contacting foot member medially pivoted on the free extremity of the prying portion. The foot member being rotatable in the plane of the prying portion.

[451 Aug. 28. 1973 United States Patent 1191 Olson 1 1 BOARD-STRIPPING TOOLS Prima Examiner-Othell M. Sim son 1 h 3.01 511T St., W P [76] Inventor g i SL ennyson Assistant Examiner-Robert C. Watson AttorneyR. 1-1. Galbreath Sept. 7, 1971 [22] Filed:

211 App]. No.: 178,013

7 ABSTRACT US. Cl. Int Cl [51] 3661' 3/00 A straight tubular handle one extremity of which is [58] Field of Search 254/17, 25, 27, 129, cuately bent back to form a hookfihapedy Semi 254/130 circular, prying portion therebeing support-contacting fulcrum elements projecting oppositely outward from References (med the handle adjacent the prying portion and an elon- UNITED STATES PATENTS gated, board-contacting foot member medially pivoted 3,041,042 254/130 on the free extremity of the p y g P The fool member being rotatable in the plane of the prying portion.

Downey 1,455,019 5/1923 Cameron 3,288,437 11/1966 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Pederson 3 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures 571,711 3/1959 Canada............................... 254/131 \wwww a Patented Aug. 28, 1973 INVENTOR JON/Y B. 04 so BY W ATTORNEY BOARD-STRIPPING TOOLS This invention relates to a board-stripping tool for use in removing boards from various structures that are being dismantled. It is more particularly applicable for: removing siding boards from studs, for removing floor boards from joists, and for removing sheathing boards from the roof rafters and beams of buildings which are being demolished.

Tools for this purpose have been previously designed but have been usually too complicated, heavy and bundlesome for rapid practical use and often result in so damaging the removed boards that reuse of the boards is often impractical.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a simple, economical, light weight tool which can be quickly and easily placed in any desired position on the work and which will quickly and with little effort remove boards from a supporting structure with a minimum of damage to the boards and to the structure.

A further object is to provide a board-stripping tool which will comprise a single unitary assembly that can be readily lifted, positioned and actuated with a single hand so as to leave the other hand free for handling the boards.

A still further object is to provide a board-stripping tool which can without adjustment or change be selectively and instantly positioned for use upon either side of studs and joists and other building elements so as to quickly accommodate all work requirements and to so construct the tool that it will automatically laterally align with the transverse surfaces ofthe boards so as to uniformly exert lateral pressure across their widths to reduce the possibility of splitting, tearingor otherwise damaging the boards.

Other objects and advantages reside inthe detail construction of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, economy and efficiency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numerals refer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout the description.

In the drawing: I

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the boardstripping tool of this invention showing it in a position for use;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the tool illustrating it as it would appear looking downwardly on FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an end elevational view of the tool as it would appear looking to the right in FIG. 2.

The board-stripping tool of this invention employes a straight tubular handle 10 the forward extremity of which is integrally and arcuately curved to approximately 180 to form a semi-circular prying portion 11.

Two preferably tubular fulcrum elements 12 are welded or otherwise secured to and project oppositely outward from the handle 10 proximate the point where the handle tangentially joins the semi-circular prying portion 11. The fulcrum elements 12 are similar and each is approximately 2" in length and they are axially aligned with each other on a transverse axis positioned at a right angle to the plane of the semi-circular prying portion 11 as shown in FIG. 2.

A pivot bolt 13 extends through and projects from opposite sides of the distant extremity of the prying portion 11 of the handle on an axis parallel to the axis of the fulcrum elements 12 to pivotally and medially receive an elongated foot 16 of a length to be freely rotatable about the pivot bolt 13 in the plane of the semicircular prying portion 11.

The foot 16 preferably includes: a straight length of conventional angle-iron 14, which has a first side portion 15 positioned against the prying portion 11 of the handle 10 and which is pivotally mounted on the pivot bolt 13; and a second side portion which extends longitudinally of, and at a right angle to, the first side portion 15 to form an elongated, straight, flat, boardcontacting foot 16.

A side bracket plate 17 is welded to, or otherwise formed on, the mid-portion of the outside edge of the board-contacting foot 16 and the extremity of the prying portion 11 is positioned between the first side portion 15 and the bracket plate 17 upon the pivot bolt 13.

It is believed that many uses of this improved boardstripping tool will become apparent to one skilled in the art whenever it is desired to strip or remove boards which are nailed or otherwise attached to a supporting structure.

As an example of use, let us assume it is desired to remove nailed siding boards 18 from a supporting stud 19 of a wall as shown in FIG. 1. The initial top siding boards 18 are first removed in any desired manner to expose the stud l9 and the prying portion 11 of the handle is inserted downwardly in the wall over the remaining boards 18 so that the foot 16 will depend inside the remaining top boards 18. The handle 10 is moved sidewardly, if necessary, to position the tool close to either desired side of the adjacent stud 19 with one of its fulcrum elements 12 positioned opposite the front edge of the stud as shown in FIG. 2.

The handle 10 is then simply pushed upwardly, as indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 1, to cause the contacted fulcrum element l2.to push inwardly against the stud 19 so that the semi-circular prying portion 11 will react to pry the foot 16 outwardly against the back of the boards 18 to withdraw their respective nails from the stud 19.

Of course, if it be desired to work upwardly on the structure wall, the lower boards may be initially removed and the prying portion 11 of the tool inserted upwardly in the wall so that downward movements of the handle will successively remove the boards 18 in upward sucession.

For removing floor and roofing boards, the same procedure is used with the prying portion 11 inserted behind the boards and with the selected fulcrum element 12 reacting against the joists or rafters.

While the various elements of the tool may be of any practical dimension, it has been found in actual practise that: if the handle 10 has a length of 26 inches and is formed from heavy wall steel tubing of l inch O.D.; if the fulcrum elements 12 are each approximately 2 inches long and are formed from similar tubing of 94 inch OD; and if the prying portion 11 has an outside radius of 3% inches, satisfactory working results can be obtained in the majority of cases.

The pivot bolt 13 can be replaced by a pivot pin or rivet, and the side bracket plate 17 may be continued for the full length of the foot 16 if desired.

It will be noted from FIG. 1 that should the wall being worked upon have lath, plaster or wall board on its inner face the siding boards 18 can, if desired, be removed with'this tool without disturbing the inner face of the wall.

While a selected form of the invention has been above described, it is understood that mechanical variations and detail substitutions can be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A board-stripping tool for removing boards from a supporting element to which they are affixed comprising:

a. a relatively straight elongated hollow tubular handle portion;

b. a prying portion integral with the handle portion comprising a bent tube of semicircular shape meeting the end of the handle portion in tangential relationship and having its free end disposed 180 from and parallel to said handle portion;

c. a fulcrum element extending outwardly from each side of said handle at the point of tangential joinder with the prying portion and being perpendicular to the plane of the prying portion; and

d. an elongated foot member medially pivotally mounted on the free end of said prying portion so that it will be urged rearwardly against the back of said boards when either one of said fulcrum elements are forced forwardly against the front of said supporting element.

2. A board-stripping tool as described in claim 1 in which the foot comprises:

a. a straight length of angle iron positioned with one ofits legs medially pivoted to said free end and with its other leg extending outwardly to flatly contact the back of a board to be stripped by said tool.

3. A board-stripping tool as described in claim I in which the board-contacting foot:

a. has a channel-shaped cross section with two upboard under the prying bias of said prying portion. 

1. A board-stripping tool for removing boards from a supporting element to which they are affixed comprising: a. a relatively straight elongated hollow tubular handle portion; b. a prying portion integral with the handle portion comprising a bent tube of semicircular shape meeting the end of the handle portion in tangential relationship and having its free end disposed 180* from and parallel to said handle portion; c. a fulcrum element extending outwardly from each side of said handle at the point of tangential joinder with the prying portion and being perpendicular to the plane of the prying portion; and d. an elongated foot member medially pivotally mounted on the free end of said prying portion so that it will be urged rearwardly against the back of said boards when either one of said fulcrum elements are forced forwardly against the front of said supporting element.
 2. A board-stripping tool as described in claim 1 in which the foot comprises: a. a straight length of angle iron positioned with one of its legs medially pivoted to said free end and with its other leg extending outwardly to flatly contact the back of a board to be stripped by said tool.
 3. A board-stripping tool as described in claim 1 in which the board-contacting foot: a. has a channel-shaped cross section with two upstanding side portions pivoted to and between which the free end of said semi-circular prying portion is pivoted and a straight, flat, elongated, board-contacting foot joining the two upstanding side portions and positioned to contact and strip a board under the prying bias of said prying portion. 